BP PLC (BP), the biggest oil producer in the United States and biggest leaseholder in the Gulf of Mexico, found black gold. BP said that it hit crude in its Tiber Prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and believes that it could be bigger than its Kaskida discovery, which has more than 3 billion barrels of oil in place. The news sent the iShares S&P Global Energy (IXC) up nearly 1% in morning trading. BP PLC is 7.4%.
Crude oil has slipped for the third straight day to under $68/barrel. The decline in crude has been driven by cost-cutting measures by both corporations and individuals, as well as the greater than usual amount of oil in storage. Despite the drop in oil, the United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 0.1% in morning trading.
Overall all three major U.S. indexes edged upward, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.1%, the S&P 500 jumping 0.1% and the Nasdaq gaining 0.3%.
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Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.